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FRONTLINE; Dancing Boys of Afghanistan, The

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Premiered January 1983
Since January 1983, FRONTLINE has served as American public television's - PBS - flagship public affairs series. Hailed upon its television broadcast debut as "the last best hope for broadcast documentaries," FRONTLINE's stature over 23 years is reaffirmed each week through incisive documentaries covering the scope and complexity of the human experience.
Series release date: 1/1983

Program Description

In Afghanistan today, in the midst of war and endemic poverty, an ancient tradition -- banned when the Taliban were in power -- has re-emerged across the country: many hundreds of boys, often as young as 10, are being lured off the streets on the promise of a new life, many unaware that their real fate is to be used for entertainment and sex. They're the "Bacha Bereesh," literally "beardless boys," chosen for their height, size, and beauty, trained to sing and dance for male audiences, and then traded for sexual favors among former warlords and powerful businessmen. With remarkable access inside a sexual exploitation ring operating in Northern Afghanistan, Najibullah Quraishi, an Afghan journalist investigates this illegal practice, talking with the boys and their masters, and documenting how Afghan authorities responsible for stopping these crimes are sometimes themselves complicit in the practice.